Now is Good (2012)

IMDB

Now is Good (2012): Girl with cancer and a bucket list touches lives despite her hard exterior. Formulaic. Checks every tear-jerker box. C+

Review: The Worst Hard Time

Amazon

From The Worst Hard Time, by Timothy Egan:

Ike Osteen's life spans the flu epidemic of 1918, the worst depression in American history, and a world war that ripped apart the globe. Nothing compares to the black dusters of the 1930s, he says, a time when the simplest thing in life -- taking a breath -- was a threat."

After the jump, my review.

High School Basketball Tips Off

From 2014 11 25 Coppell vs Berkner

Now that the last notes of Gridiron Echoes have faded away, it's time for basketball. The Berkner Rams boys basketball team has a growing reputation to live up to. Last season, they had an overall record of 24-8, were District 9-5A co-champions and had a deep run in the state tournament. There were about 250 Class 5A schools in Texas in 2013-2014. Berkner made it to the final sixteen. Sweet!

Now it's a new season, a new district, a new roster, and new challenges. After the jump, the Berkner Rams take on the Coppell Cowboys in a non-district game.

Burt's Buzz (2013)

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Burt's Buzz (2013): Man behind the lip balm. Unambitious man lives alone in the woods. Icon not tycoon. Movie never gets below surface. C+

Eastside Gives Up on Mixed-Use

Eastside Gives Up on Mixed-Use. That's not what Steve Brown says, but it would be an accurate headline for his story in The Dallas Morning News, despite his own characterization of plans at Eastside as "mixed-use":

Developers in Richardson have disclosed details of the first phase of a prominent new mixed-use development on North Central Expressway.
The planned apartment and office project is part of the Eastside development located near the southeast corner of North Central and Campbell Road.

Source: The Dallas Morning News.

After the jump, why the Eastside expansion is not mixed-use.

Oregon Coast

From 2014 11 07 Oregon Coast

Last summer, we visited the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers north of St. Louis, where Lewis and Clark camped the winter before setting off with the Corps of Discovery through the American northwest. This fall, we visited Astoria, Oregon, and the Oregon coast, where Lewis and Clark reached their goal and they camped the winter before making the long journey back east. We didn't follow Lewis and Clark's route up the Missouri. We flew to Oregon, a luxury Lewis and Clark couldn't even imagine. It was affecting to stand at the beginning and end of their epic journey.

More photos after the jump.

Jobs (2013)

IMDB

Jobs (2013): One sick asshole. To family, friends, employees. Does design genius make up for it? Movie doesn't answer. Or even try. C+

Committees and Commissions

According to The Dallas Morning News, Richardson resident David Chenoweth "has filed a complaint with the Texas Attorney General's office over the Charter Review Commission not providing time for public comment at all meetings." He is hanging his case on Section 3.10 of the Richardson City Charter.

Section 3.10. - Open meetings.
All meetings of the city council and all committees thereof shall be open to the public except as otherwise permitted by state law, and the rules of the city council shall provide that citizens of the city shall have a reasonable opportunity to be heard at any such meetings, in regard to any matter there considered.

Source: City of Richardson.

After the jump, why he is mistaken.

The Missing Picture (2013)

IMDB

The Missing Picture (2013): Depiction of life under Khmer Rouge using clay figurines. Jarring, haunting, but figures lessen the horror. C+

Portland's Pittock Mansion

From 2014 11 06 Pittock Mansion

Let's reach for comparisons. Scott lived in Pasadena, California. Now he lives in Portland, Oregon.

Pasadena has the Caltech Beavers. Oregon has the Portland State Beavers.

Pasadena, home of the New Year's Rose Parade, calls itself the City of Roses. Portland, which has held the Portland Rose Festival annually since 1907, also calls itself the City of Roses.

Pasadena has the Gamble House, a National Historic Landmark built in 1908 for David Gamble of the Procter & Gamble Company. And Portland has the Pittock Mansion, a National Historic Landmark built in 1914 for Henry Pittock, publisher of The Oregonian. Gamble House is high in the hills above the Rose Bowl. Pittock Mansion is high in the hills overlooking downtown Portland.

Eerie parallels, right? I knooooow. It's weird.

More photos of the Pittock Mansion after the jump.